FIFA suits who theoretically could play a significant role in determining whether the United States hosts the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will be given the red-carpet treatment at five potential venues this week, with photo-ops aplenty and critical lobbying and genuflecting going on behind the scenes. The "technical inspection" tour begins Monday in New York City and will pass through Washington D.C., Miami, Dallas and Houston.
The six-man FIFA delegation (in England, above) will be led by Federación de Fútbol de Chile president Harold Mayne-Nicholls and will be escorted by U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, local officials and plenty of police, to ensure the group experiences none of the weekday traffic that chokes large American cities. FIFA undoubtedly had the same treatment when they visited South Africa, where the real World Cup experience came with a very healthy does of gridlock.
Here's the full itinerary:
Monday: Arrive in New York City, have "private reception" with representatives of the 18 candidate cities. Those not included in the lucky five need the chance to meet and greet.
Tuesday: Meet the media, then visit Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, potential site of qualifying or final draw, then head out to Red Bull Arena and the New Meadowlands Stadium. Fly to D.C., tour George Mason University in Northern Virginia (potential team training site) and enjoy a "private dinner with local soccer and political leadership."
Wednesday: Visit the Washington Monument (possible fan park) and FedEx Field. Fly to Miami, see Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Beach Convention Center (another draw possibility), then fly to Dallas.
Thursday: Tour Dallas Convention Center (FIFA meeting site) and Cowboys Stadium. Head to Houston, see Reliant Stadium, the George R. Brown Convention Center (potential broadcast center), conduct a second media briefing.
There will be no media access to FIFA other than the briefings in New York in Houston, ensuring that none of the tourists lets anything slip that might suggest that the gifts they receive in the U.S. are more/less shiny than the ones offered by competitors. In addition to Mayne-Nicholls, the FIFA delegation will comprise 2010 World Cup local organizing committee chairman Danny Jordaan, FIFA head of event management Jürgen Müller, media officer Wolfgang Eichler, FIFA marketing executive David Fowler and competitions executive Julio Avellar.
Given the rushed itinerary above, there's little chance that the group will see anything of substance. Even FedEx Field, which is well known for offering the worst gameday experience in the NFL, will look good over the course of a 15-minute tour. The National Mall, Miami Beach, Jerry Jones' huge television and Reliant Stadium also surely will make an excellent impression, and Houston may even look like a nice city from inside a limousine.
tweetcount_src = 'RT @FanHouse:'; tweetcount_via = false; tweetcount_size = 'small'; tweetcount_background = 'FFFFFF'; tweetcount_border = 'CCCCCC'; tweetcount_api_key = '1cf4e3b7f7f20406a9dd9d1b1edc0e41b4fc20d1b21cb19a6f169387c696d333'; The brevity and highly-controlled itineraries combine to make these tours somewhat farcical. Certainly the other bidding nations will seem just as impressive after such a superficial showing, and all certainly are capable of hosting a World Cup. None involve the risks of South Africa or the 2014 host, Brazil.
The FIFA visit is transparent -- there is nothing they will learn about the United States having lunch at a convention center that they don't already know, and unless something goes horribly wrong (here's hoping all the bidets work), the tour surely won't have an impact on the FIFA Executive Committee's Dec. 2 vote. The U.S. must stage the sycophantic dog-and-pony show because all the bidders must stage the dog-and-pony show. That's the awesome power of FIFA.
World Cup attendees without the FIFA emblem on their blazer won't enjoy the police escorts, the gourmet meals or the five-star lodgings. There's no chance the FIFA delegation, when touring South Africa years ago, sat in traffic for two hours while their bus driver got lost on the way to the stadium. They weren't forced to eat the food available to fans (bright orange hot dogs) or journalists (something called a "chicken burger"). Their flights weren't diverted because air traffic control was told to give preference to a VIP jet rather than a plane carrying ticket-holding fans. This tour has nothing to do with what actually happens at a World Cup.
But, it's part of jumping through FIFA's hoops, so let's hope it goes well. The U.S. remains in the running for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, but the latter is the most realistic possibility. The World Cup eight years from now likely will be in Europe -- England, Spain/Portugal, Netherlands/Belgium and Russia are the candidates. In addition to the U.S., Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are hoping to host in 2022.
The 24 men sitting on FIFA's Executive Committee will decide the winners in three months. Their vote will hinge on politics, favors, bias, money, ego -- all the FIFA hallmarks -- plus where they'd like to spend four weeks over the summer. It's almost impossible to imagine Mayne-Nicholls' reports will change any minds. The good thing is this: unless the committee is totally seduced by Qatari billions and the chance to make inroads in the Arab world, the U.S. should have an excellent chance of winning the 2022 vote. Common sense, and not some silly superficial tour, should be enough to hold sway.
.fanhouseButton {margin:2em 0;} .fanhouseButton a:link, .fanhouseButton a:visited, .fanhouseButton a:hover, .fanhouseButton a:active {background-color:#dd2829;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:18px;padding:0.3em 0.6em;text-decoration:none;} .fanhouseButton a:hover {background-color:#000000;}
Follow Brian Straus on Twitter Follow FH Soccer on Twitter Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Kristanna Loken Kristen Bell Kristin Cavallari Kristin Kreuk Kristy Swanson
No comments:
Post a Comment